Posted by
Gary Gross on Tuesday, October 03, 2006 6:17:59 PM
It's impossible to ascertain that from a single story but if it were possible this would be the story: McCaskill Gets "F" - Talent Gains Major African-American SupportVia St. Louis blogger PubdefBlack Businessmen Raise Funds for Talent, Give McCaskill "F" on Issues A group of African-American business leaders held a breakfast fundraiser for Talent this morning at the offices of Midwestern Construction Company in old north St. Louis. Talent told the roomful of nearly 100 black business, civic, and church leaders that too often politicians come to the African-American community and tell them what they are going to do. He said what he tries to do is ask people what they want him to do for them. "Politicians do that with other communities of interest," said Talent. "I don't go to the farmers and say this is what Jim Talent thinks ought to happen in agriculture."
I get the distinct impression that Ms. McCaskill doesn't connect with black voters. That's only re-inforced with that fundraising story and this story where she tried appealing to black voters this way: "George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black," she told a group of Democratic state legislators last week.
Thanks to bloggers like Gateway Pundit, inept politicians like Ms. McCaskill can't get away with saying such things without paying a steep price for them. In fact, a comparison between McCaskill and Talent shows that Sen. Talent has a real gift of relating to voters of all races. He relates to voters by first listening to them rather than telling them how great he is or how awful the other candidate is. There's an old adage that the best politicians know well: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Let's compare Sen. Talent's and McCaskill's presentations by that yardstick: Talent told the roomful of nearly 100 black business, civic, and church leaders that too often politicians come to the African-American community and tell them what they are going to do. He said what he tries to do is ask people what they want him to do for them.
Now Ms. McCaskill's presentation:
"George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black," she told a group of Democratic state legislators last week.
If I'm in Ms. McCaskill's audience, I'm likely to ask something like "What does George Bush have to do with why I should vote for this McCaskill lady?" I'd have a completely different reaction to Sen. Talent's presentation. My first reaction is likely to be "Finally. A politician that listens first." Their presentations are dramatically different and the advantage doesn't favor Ms. McCaskill. Technorati: Election 2006, Claire McCaskill, GOP Outreach, Minority VotersCross-posted at Let Freedom Ring Blog